Chicago runoff muscle: Who's backing whom and with how much cash?

April 4, 2011

The outcome of Tuesday’s 14 aldermanic runoffs in Chicago will obviously be a big deal for the residents of those wards. But the interest extends much further. Labor, business and political groups - along with politicians themselves - have been dumping cash into these contests for weeks. Everyone has a lot at stake, and they’re showing it.

An endorsement can be just that – a line in a press release or a mention on a website. Sometimes, though, the endorser puts some money behind that support. This can come through cash donations (“Here is a check - enjoy”), in-kind donations (“Let me pay for those robo-calls for you”) or independent expenditures (“Without talking to you, I’m going to take it upon myself to attack your opponent”).

So here we go. It’s scorecard time.

(We know these charts aren't easy on the eyes. Click here to download a PDF version. Print it out and keep track of which interests are winning, and which are losing, as the results roll in Tuesday night.)

The new mayor vs. the most powerful alderman

Sure, Emanuel entered some races that Burke has avoided, and Burke got involved in the 46th while Emanuel stays on the Uptown sidelines. But with the exception of the 50th Ward, there are no conflicting endorsements so far from Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Ed Burke. Whatever happened to the big showdown?

Ward

Candidates

Backed by Rahm Emanuel

Ed Burke

6

Freddrenna Lyle (i)

$35,442

Roderick Sawyer

15

Toni Foulkes (i)

$14,118

$2,000

Raymond Lopez

16

JoAnn Thompson (i)

$34,302

$2,000

Hal Baskin

17

Latasha Thomas (i)

$19,573

$1,500

David Moore

20

Willie Cochran (i)

endorsed

Che "Rhymefest" Smith

24

Sharon Denise Dixon (i)

Michael Chandler

25

Danny Solis (i)

$37,992

$1,500

Cuahutemoc Morfin

36

John Rice (i)

endorsed

Nicholas Sposato

38

Tim Cullerton (i)

$41,500

$6,500

Tom Caravette

41

Maurita Gavin

Mary O'Connor

43

Tim Egan

Michele Smith

45

John Arena

John Garrido

46

James Cappleman

Molly Phelan

$1,500

50

Bernard Stone (i)

$1,000

Debra Silverstein

$49,475

Labor unions

Topping the list for union expenditures is SEIU's involvement in the 45th Ward, where it's put a lot of money behind graphic artist John Arena. The group didn’t back Arena in the February 22nd election, instead picking Marina Faz-Huppert, who didn’t make the runoff. It looks like SEIU just really doesn’t like Arena's opponent, John Garrido, a lawyer/police officer and former GOP candidate for Cook County board president. SEIU had an even more severe change of heart in the 25th Ward, with a late-game pick of Ald. Danny Solis. The Solis endorsement came after SEIU spent a reported $14,196 in independent expenditures to try to defeat Solis in February.

Ward

Candidates

Fraternal Order of Police

Firefighters Union

AFSCME

SEIU

Chicago Teachers Union

Chicago Federation of Labor

6

Freddrenna Lyle (i)

$1,000

$33,710

$148,517

$2,500

endorsed

Roderick Sawyer

15

Toni Foulkes (i)

endorsed

$15,000

$91,544

$2,500

$1,000

Raymond Lopez

16

JoAnn Thompson (i)

endorsed

$72,925

$19,250

Hal Baskin

17

Latasha Thomas (i)

endorsed

endorsed

endorsed

David Moore

20

Willie Cochran (i)

endorsed

endorsed

endorsed

Che "Rhymefest" Smith

$22,000

$7,000

24

Sharon Denise Dixon (i)

endorsed

endorsed

Michael Chandler

endorsed

25

Danny Solis (i)

endorsed

endorsed

$5,000

$5,000

Cuahutemoc Morfin

$7,000

36

John Rice (i)

$7,500

endorsed

endorsed

Nicholas Sposato

endorsed

$15,000

38

Tim Cullerton (i)

$1,000

$1,000

$7,500

$29,000

endorsed

$12,500

Tom Caravette

41

Maurita Gavin

$1,000

Mary O'Connor

endorsed

endorsed

$48,692

endorsed

43

Tim Egan

endorsed

endorsed

endorsed

endorsed

Michele Smith

45

John Arena

$215,398

$5,000

$31,000

John Garrido

$5,000

endorsed

46

James Cappleman

$2,500

Molly Phelan

endorsed

endorsed

50

Bernard Stone (i)

Debra Silverstein

endorsed

$1,000

endorsed

$48,764

$6,500

endorsed

Business interests (and a mysterious PAC)

With the company's big Chicago plans, it's no surprise that Wal-Mart this year again got into the campaign action. While we've only seen reported donations from the company to four candidates in runoffs, that's not the whole story. Wal-Mart has also donated to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce PAC and the Illinois Retail Merchants PAC, both of which are involved in more of these races.

Also in this table (because we don't really know where to put it) we've included endorsements and cash from For a Better Chicago PAC, a political fund controlled by a former campaign aide to both Emanuel and Mayor Daley.

Ward

Candidates

For a Better Chicago PAC

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

Illinois Retail Merchants

Wal-Mart

6

Freddrenna Lyle (i)

$10,000*

$1,000**

$3,630

Roderick Sawyer

$1,500

15

Toni Foulkes (i)

endorsed

$2,500

Raymond Lopez

16

JoAnn Thompson (i)

$47,396

$2,500

$7,000

Hal Baskin

17

Latasha Thomas (i)

$26,000

$6,000

$2,000

$1,500

David Moore

20

Willie Cochran (i)

$10,000

$1,000

Che "Rhymefest" Smith

$1,500

24

Sharon Denise Dixon (i)

Michael Chandler

endorsed

25

Danny Solis (i)

$25,000

$9,500

$8,000

Cuahutemoc Morfin

36

John Rice (i)

$10,000

Nicholas Sposato

38

Tim Cullerton (i)

$25,515

$7,000

Tom Caravette

41

Maurita Gavin

Mary O'Connor

endorsed

endorsed

43

Tim Egan

$19,518

$25,000

$5,000

Michele Smith

45

John Arena

John Garrido

$10,000

$15,000

46

James Cappleman

Molly Phelan

$25,000

$2,000

50

Bernard Stone (i)

$12,500

$1,500

Debra Silverstein

$10,000

$11,800

* Ald. Lyle has returned this donation, and is no longer endorsed by For a Better Chicago PAC.

** Despite reporting a donation from the chamber prior to the February election, Lyle does not have the group's endorsement.

Where these numbers come from

We know this list does not include anywhere near the number of unions, business groups or political interests involved in the election. This is just a sampling of some of the most active. The charts contain figures that are accurate as of late Sunday night, calculated from reports downloaded from the website of the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Candidates with an (i) next to their names are incumbents. We’ve listed them first in each contest. In races where there is no incumbent, we’ve listed the candidates by alphabetical order.

Money totals are rounded to the nearest dollar, and account for all reported donations (to the candidate or their ward organization) in this year's election cycle, including those made before the February 22nd election. If the chart just says a group “endorsed” a candidate, that means no donations were reported but the group claims to support the candidate. (Keep in mind that donations made this calendar year that are under $1,000 are unlikely to have been reported yet.)

Donations attributed to a particular group or person do not necessarily come from the same campaign fund. For example, SEIU has multiple political action committees. All donations from Emanuel were made via his “New Chicago Committee” PAC. Donations from Burke were made from either the alderman himself, his campaign or Burnham Committee, which is his PAC.